NOAH seniors learn to deal with trauma

Seniors living at the Neighbourhood Old Age Home (NOAH) non-profit in Woodstock attended a psychological first aid course aimed at improving their relationships in the shared home and their communities.

- WESLEY FORD

Noah social worker and therapist, Claudia Roodt, held an eight-week course called the Trauma Informed First Responders course with 16 senior citizens living at the Noah branch in Woodstock.

Ms Roodt says the concept of this course came from an overseas model called the “Self healing community model”.

“What it means is that most of us are living in communities which are trauma driven, so how do we move people from being trauma and violence driven to healing driven,” she says.

Ms Roodt has previously hosted this course as a four-day programme in Lavender Hill.

It covers four main aspects including understanding owning your trauma; understanding your nervous system; what is trauma; and what is the role of the first responder.